A Much Needed Reunion
by Eternal Love Song
Summary: Prompt: Loki turned himself over to the Avengers before AoU but had to leave for Asgard unexpectedly before they all returned. By the time Civil War ends he comes back to find a rather broken Tony. Pepper left him, and to top it all off his best friend broke his heart. Que some tears, lots of feels and much needed comfort during their reunion.


Loki had been gone for much to long, that was immediately apparent when he returned to Tony's side. His mortal was not at his Tower, as Loki had expected, but at some new complex that Loki had never been to. He had not meant to be away for so long, but wars were never won in a timely manner and Asgard was his home. When he had been called upon to fight, he had done so (mostly) willingly.

Loki wondered if he would come to regret that.

The compound was large and empty. He walked the halls, searched many rooms, but kept coming up empty. The place felt empty and desolate. Where we the Avengers? Why was the Captain not breaking things on the training grounds? Why was the Hawk not making a menace of himself in the vents? Why had he not sensed the presence of The Widow as she tried to lurk about and watch him? Where was the beast who occupied both too much and too little space at once?

Finally, Loki gave up looking and asked aloud, "Jarvis? Where is Tony?" Admittedly, it was odd that the voice did not greet him upon his arrival. He had never failed to greet Loki in the past, not even when Loki had been an enemy.

"Jarvis is not here. May I be of assistance?" A female voice answered him.

The surprise caused him to become tense and his eyes darted around instinctively, looking for a threat. "Who are you?"

"I am Friday, created by Tony Stark as a successor to Jarvis."

Loki raised an eyebrow to this. "Why?"

"Due to an incident involving a rogue creation of Mr. Stark's, Jarvis is unable to perform this duty."

That… did not sound good. Loki was not assigning truth or belief to this unknown voice, but if there were truth to it…

"Where is Tony?" He repeated.

"Mr. Stark is in his personal suite. I shall guide you."

Loki was suspicious as he followed the directions to his lovers location. When his eye finally fell upon Tony, his love did not look well. He was sitting at a desk with his head in his hands and a glass of untouched liquor before him. He looked like he had lost a lot of sleep, with bags under his bloodshot eyes.

"Tony," Loki's voice was a whisper, but he did not hesitate to cross the room and go to Tony's side. Tony looked up when he heard Loki's voice and the man was before in a few blinks.

"Loki," Tony answered. His eyes watered immediately. Loki felt more worry at that than anything else, pulling Tony into a long overdue embrace. His Tony was never one to cry so easily and openly. Loki pulled Tony tight and lifted him into Loki's arms. Normally, Tony would protest this sort of treatment, but he remained silent, only clinging more tightly. He carried Tony carefully to his bedroom, pushing the door closed with his his and settling onto the bed. He wanted privacy, or the illusion of it, to help comfort Tony.

"Talk to me," Loki whispered. "Please." It felt good to have Tony in hi arms again, if bittersweet. Whatever has transpired in his absence, Loki was resolved to comfort Tony no matter what. Whatever it took, he see Tony restored to a better state.

"Pepper left me," Tony whispered.

Loki pressed his lips together tightly to keep from grimacing. Tony wasn't looking at him, has face was buried determinedly in Loki' neck, but he didn't want to show any adverse reactions until he knew for sure what he was dealing with. "What else?" He asked, because their had to be more. There had to be a reason he was floating around this complex all by himself, or mostly as far as Loki could tell.

"The Avengers left me."

"What?" Loki asked. He started to pull away and look at Tony with disbelief, but thought better of it when the man held Loki tighter. Loki tightened his grip in turn. No matter how unbelievable it was, Tony would not lie about this and Loki did not want the man to think that Loki doubted him. He did not want to give Tony reason to doubt Loki. Even if Tony had nothing, Loki would make sure that Tony had him. He was half decided that he would take Tony with him if he needed to return to Asgard again. His mortal did not deserve to be left alone.

"Why?" Loki dared to ask, though he feared the answer. He was afraid of Tony spinning a narrative in which he blamed himself. Tony was as good at blaming himself as Loki could be at blaming other people.

"I fucked up," Tony said.

"No" Loki told him firmly. This time, he did pull away to look at Tony. He pulled away so that Tony could see the firmness in Loki's gaze. "Whatever transpired between you and Pepper, whatever transpired between you and the Avengers, it is not all on you. It takes two people to make or break a relationship, and I know you, Tony. I know you so well. You would have done whatever you could for them, all of the, and know that you did."

Tony's eyes were still watery. He tried to blink away the tears but they were quickly running down his cheeks and falling between them. Loki took his face in hand and kissed him softly; on the lips, on his forehead, on his cheeks, and then again on the lips. Gentle things, just to show Tony that he was loved, that he was not alone. Loki would not allow Tony to be alone. He regretted that he hadn't been with Tony when he had needed him, but Loki was here now. He would fix this. And if he couldn't fix it, he would still try. He would love Tony until the hurts stopped stinging as badly, and then continue to love him still.

"It wasn't enough," Tony whispered. "I wasn't–"

Loki placed a finger on Tony's lips. As much as he wanted to hear Tony's thought, he wasn't going to let it turn into a one man blame session. "You are enough," Loki told him. "You have always been, you always will be, and you always are, enough. I will not allow you to think otherwise when I know you to be the kindest and most worthy man that I have ever met."

"I'm no Steve," Tony replied.

"You do not need to compare yourself to likes of Steve Rogers," Loki said, a hint of derision in his voice.

"Everyone else does," Tony answered. "The Avengers all chose him over me. They all want Steve Rogers, perfect man. Not Tony Stark, perfect failure."

"You stop that," Loki told him, gently yet firmly. "No one is perfect, in failure or success. He is certainly not the idea that he or everyone else pretend him to be and you know that. Neither are you so terrible as to be a perfect failure. You insult us both, now Tony."

"…sorry…" Tony said quietly. He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Loki whipped his face of tears.

"No matter what you think you have done, I am here for you Tony." Loki pulled the man tight to his chest again, just holding him and breathing him in. Tony relaxed against him and Loki felt his own tensions release in turn. "I love you, Tony. I will love you, no matter you have done or think that you have done. If you want me to, I can help you to try and find a solution to this. If you want me to, I can help you you forget this. Regardless, it is my full intention to help you move past it one way or the other. I refuse to let you drown in a sea of other people's opinions."

Slowly, Tony let out his breath. "Thank you," He said.

"I love you," Loki repeated. Because no matter what, Tony needed to know that. To hear it and internalize it, and believe it. He needed to know that someone was on his side and that that someone was still Loki. No matter what had transpired. And if the need arose, Loki would destroy the Avengers for making Tony feel this way.

I love you, too." Tony answered. He angled himself so that he could look at Loki and smiled, fragile but present. "I'm glad that you're back Loki."

"As am I," Loki answered. "And I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
